Harry How/Getty Images Tyler Higbee should be ready to return by the start of the season.
When the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals to win Super Bowl LVI, they did it without a couple of key players.
Tight end Tyler Higbee and safety Jordan Fuller were both injured ahead of the Super Bowl win, causing them to miss the game. Higbee suffered an MCL sprain two weeks prior in the NFC Championship Game while Fuller suffered an ankle injury in Week 18 that caused him to miss the entire postseason.
Three months later and with offseason workouts underway, both players had positive updates to share about their injuries.
Higbee and Fuller Share They’re Positive Progress After Respective Offseason Surgeries
As the Rams close out their final week of workouts before organized team activities begin next week, Higbee and Fuller appear to be in a good spot health-wise.
Higbee, who had surgery over the offseason, said that he began on-field work earlier in May but he and the team aren’t rushing him to get to full speed during the offseason.
“The knee is coming along very well,” Higbee told reporters on Tuesday, May 17.
Fuller also shared positive progress when speaking to reporters on Tuesday, saying he had ankle surgery earlier in the offseason. However, he’s still “bridging up” to on-field work.
“I’m feeling good, progressing well, on track with everything, so that’s a positive,” Fuller said.
Higbee and Fuller Share Rough Moments Following Rams’ Super Bowl Win
While Higbee and Fuller were in positive spirits on Tuesday and were happy about the Rams’ Super Bowl win, they both shared the immediate aftermath of the win left them in rough places.
“I was in a dark place there for a couple of weeks, but getting a ring made it all better,” Higbee said. “I was fortunate that I’d already played in one. Now my mindset is we have to go back so I can play in one next year.”
Fuller shared that his teammates let him know that he was as much of a part of the Rams’ Super Bowl run as the players who played in the final games.
“It was tough having to watch from the couch at home. I know I was getting emotional at times. It was rough for sure,” Fuller said. “Seeing everybody celebrate and you’re not there. You put so much work in up to that point, through 17 games I was there in the thick with them. You kind of feel like you’re on the outside of it.
“Thanks to my teammates, coaches, family, loved ones, they kept my head on straight.”
The last few months have been eventful for Fuller. Earlier in May, he graduated and received his degree from Ohio State, where he played college football.
“I put a whole lot of work into it and I was like a semester away. So I might as well finish it,” Fuller said.
If the Rams want to repeat as Super Bowl champions, it’s likely that they’ll need contributions from Higbee and Fuller again. Higbee had one of the best seasons in his six-year career in 2021, catching 61 passes for 560 yards and five touchdowns. Fuller, who enters his third season, led the team in combined tackles (113) and was the 19th-highest-graded safety by Pro Football Focus in 2021.